Tilt Scooters Interview

Tilt scooters is one of the most respected companies in the scooter industry. When they announced they were making a full length the scooter world tensed up, and two years later we can all finally relax and watch what may become one of the best street scooter videos ever produced. At first I wanted to interview the riders, but since the production value of this film was so high I decided to interview the people behind the making of the film. These people are Collin Snoek: company owner, Jona Humbel: filmer, and Conor Davidson: filmer, photographer, graphic designer, and team manager. I felt they had more to say about the film as a whole than the individual riders, and there’s good reason for that. There was art direction, organization, team selection, branding, and so many other obstacles to tackle for this video to happen.

The team lineup is one of the most heavy hitting, all star, scooter kid heart throb line ups in the history of scootering. The video will include full parts from Josh Young, Tom Kvilhaug, Tyler Wheeland, Erik Feenstra, Jordan Jasa, Ralph Mcmoran, and Issac Miller. There will also be a friends montage with clips from Collin Snoek, and other unannounced homies. The premier is going to be at Ken Cinema 4061 Adams Avenue San Diego, CA 92116 Saturday, January 4, 2014 Doors open @ 8:00 pm Showing @ 8:30 pm, right after SD8, and will not be one to miss. Hard copies of the DVD will also be available for purchase online for anyone who is not able to make it. For full event details visit the Tilt Premiere Event Page on SR.

“I canʼt stand the thought of anyone spending money on a Tilt part and not being 100% stoked.” – Collin

Collin Snoek

What made you decide to stop making web parts and make a hard copy full length?

That decision was made because itʼs what the team was psyched on. All the guys wanted to focus on a full length team video, not individual web parts. Originally I wasnʼt too psyched on it from a marketing standpoint, but itʼs obvious now that the mentality of the crew changes for the better when everyone is working on a unified project.

People were added to the team during the filming of the video. Was it hard for them to catch up?

This is probably more of a question for Conor since he handles the footage, but Issac and Ralph were the guys added late in the game. Issac had footy stacked from filming with Jordan and was able to immediately contribute to the video. Ralph had released most of his footage to date and had to put in work over the past few months to finish his part. Both guys are killers and have awesome parts.

￼You make a priority of paying for media content. Why is this important in the sea of unpaid, unexperienced media content in the scooter industry?

You get what you pay for. Tilt calls for a high price for the quality of the parts and stands out in a sea of low quality parts. Likewise, I demand high quality coverage of riders and am expected to pay for the talent. The end result definitely differentiates Tilt from other companies.

The other motivating factor is to support the community. Everyone is involved because they love what they do. Itʼs our dream to commit a large portion of our life to focus on what we love. Money can easily hold folks back. That said, everyone is sacrificing something to make it happen. I do my best to show my support back to them – filmers, photographers, employees, friends, etc, but Iʼm never able to give enough.

When machining parts your standard for quality exceeds any other company. Why is this important?

A lot of kids spend all their money on scooter parts, and I want them to be psyched on what they get. Weʼve all had times that weʼve purchased something that turned out to be a bad product. Thereʼs nothing worse. I canʼt stand the thought of anyone spending money on a Tilt part and not being 100% stoked.

It is awesome that you can go on trips with your team and ride along side of them. Could you imagine all this happening when you first started Tilt?

Generally people think that I have some mastermind plan and planned all this out from the beginning. The whole crew is doing what we enjoy and taking it as it comes, myself included. The guys are awesome and every trip keeps getting better and better. Itʼs impossible to dream of something this rad.

Conor Davidson

You have the main control over the Tiltʼs image. What influences your aesthetic choices?

Everything and everybody around me haha. Just being into art and music is really, thereʼs such an insane amount of creative people out there producing the coolest things, thatʼs definitely what keeps me going. Aesthetic choices just happen over time.

What was your main role in the production of this film?

Well I actually started working for Tilt a little bit after all the guys started filming for the video, so I kinda got pulled into the whole thing. My role has been filming and taking photos on trips, designing all the packaging and titles, and editing it all. Iʼm also working on a photobook that should be out when the DVD is released.

How is it being able to work in the scooter industry?

Itʼs definitely fun, everybody at Tiltʼs become a close friends of mine over the years so it doesnʼt feel too much like a job. Thereʼs no rules to marketing scooter parts haha, so thereʼs a lot of creative freedom which I really enjoy taking advantage of. Iʼm super fortunate to have the opportunity.

Is it hard living in Oregon and working for a company that is based in Illinois?

Not really. Thank god for smart phones, laptops, and Wi-Fi though haha. If I were doing more hands on manufacturing-related tasks then the distance might get in the way, but with the work I do it doesnʼt matter all that much. The teamʼs spread out across the country anyway, so no matter where Iʼm at I still have to deal with communicating over the phone/computer.

Do you ever see yourself having another full part as a full time rider?

Probably, but itʼs not definitely not a priority right now. I have a full parts worth of footage, but I donʼt go out and film very often, I donʼt really enjoy it that much. I just like cruisinʼ a good park and If I see a spot I want to hit then I hit it, and maybe film it too, but I donʼt really go out with the intention of filming for a video part. I definitely enjoy the short weekend edits though, those are fun.

“It can be the most fun thing in the world and seriously stressful at the same time.” – Jona

Jona Humbel

Was it a shock graduating high school and immediately throwing yourself into the whirlwind of filming the top pros and traveling the country?

Definitely a little bit of a shock, I graduated, got my drivers license, and moved to Chicago to work for Tilt all in about 2 weeks time. Being uprooted like that was a little gnarly for me but Iʼm definitely pleased that I did it.

How did you snag the filmer position?

Iʼve always been in touch with some of the dudes on the team via social networking, so when I went out to SD7 I met everyone and filmed a little montage with Issac. A couple weeks later that January Collin hit me up on Facebook about coming out to Chicago when I graduated to Film and work in the Shop.

Do you feel like you gained knowledge and experience while filming this video?

For sure, a LOT goes into projects like these, most people just donʼt get it. It can be the most fun thing in the world and seriously stressful at the same time. Whether that be on trips or just Tom and I on a solo mission.

You moved back to Florida so you only film when Collin sends you on trips. Do you have any future plans for working for Tilt?

Iʼll be in San Diego again this year filming on the Southwest trip. If Collin says the word then Iʼm there. No real concrete plans though.

Is there a single trick that you filmed for the video that was the best thing you ever filmed? You donʼt have to say what the trick was.

Ohhh yeahhhhhh, thereʼs a couple clips that I can definitely say were the gnarliest things Iʼve filmed, The Tilt Video is going to be heavy.